The Heart Key

By Robyn Braemer

It all started with a meteorite. The last thing genius, sometimes artist, sometimes software tester, often distracted, Tabitha Anderson, expected when hoping to sell the meteorite that almost took her out along with her car one starry night was to find herself forced into another dimension. In this land history took a different path and Minneapolis is still Minneapolis but is ruled by a king from a castle filling Nicollet Island. In that dimension a dangerous cult exists and they are determined to hunt down anyone using zippers to travel between dimensions. Fortunately Tabitha has two amazing FBI agents at her side as she struggles to find a way home before the members of the cult can eliminate her. Agent Ellis has never dealt with anyone like Tabitha before (who carves a museum quality tektite into a heart pendant?) yet finds himself drawn to her quirky charm and eyes that melt his heart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Halstad House
• Release date: May 29, 2013
• ISBN: 9780989047210

Robyn Braemer

Robyn lives in Texas with her family. She has written Dark Thunder, Shades of Right, Echo Laurel, and several series such as Huron and Venairald Cycle.

Book preview

The Heart Key

By

Robyn Braemer

Copyright © 2013 by Robyn Braemer

Published by Halstad House at Smashwords

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third party websites or their content.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: The Beginning

Chapter 2: A Missing Agent

Chapter 3: The Zipper

Chapter 4: Finding an Agent

Chapter 5: Meeting Captain Olin

Chapter 6: Another Dimension

Chapter 7: The Discovery

Chapter 8: The Cleaners

Chapter 9: Another Change in Custody

Chapter 10: Meeting the King

Chapter 11: A Library Holds Answers

Chapter 12: A Gilded Jail

Chapter 13: A Barge Ride

Chapter 14: Going Home

Chapter 15: The Decision

Chapter 16: The Stengarlds

Chapter 17: The Rescue

CHAPTER ONE

Tabitha stared up at the institution style clock hanging on the drab cinder block wall though the time didn’t register in her thoughts. The wall had been painted a dull gray in another decade. The small room felt cramped and smelled like a locker room. The FBI agent sitting beside her at the small, laminated table in the cramped room had just told her to start at the beginning. Start at the beginning, she muttered to herself. The beginning of what? He seemed to think that she had some clue as to what he was talking about. She didn’t.

In the beginning there was Tabitha, third child of four, born to Emilia and William T. Anderson. She had been the tomboy, all about horses and dogs, playing sports and reading everything that she could get her hands on. Tabitha had wanted to be a boy because boys had all the adventures. In all the books she had read as a child, boys had fun and girls didn’t. She wanted to be a cowboy and ride horses on cattle drives. She wanted to hop on a barge floating down a river and live what adventures came her way. On her tenth birthday she had gotten a cowboy hat and a jackknife and was the happiest girl in the world that day. By her eleventh birthday she was writing boys’ names on her notebooks instead of wishing she was a boy. Though she had acquired a horse the dream of driving cattle in the old west was barely a memory. Puberty kicked in and instilled an interest in boys in her life instead of living a boy’s life at the turn of the century. Tabitha had grown up in a standard Midwestern family environment until just before she turned twelve.

Perhaps that was the beginning. Her parents had gotten divorced just before she turned twelve. Getting divorced just wasn’t done in small-town Minnesota at the time. It was only as an adult that the complications of coming from a divorced home became apparent. Now parents married a lifetime was more the non-norm. So did children from stable home environments now create complications? That didn’t make sense. She wrinkled her nose as she considered the ramifications. For a few minutes she forgot that she was sitting in a concrete walled room being interrogated by the FBI as she got lost in considering nature versus nurture.

The FBI agent cleared his throat. Tabitha glanced at him. The thought of doing the tired routine of beginning at her childhood made her want to giggle. It’s hysterics, she told herself. Why else would she even consider her childhood the beginning? Tabitha rubbed her palms on her legs, an action to relieve the stress more than sweaty palms. She’d never had sweaty palms in her life, though she’d heard the term often enough. Tabitha glanced at her palms. So did people really sweat through their palms? Maybe it was a guilt thing. Maybe she had indeed sweated from her palms in the past and didn’t realize it or remember it. Everyone probably sweated from their palms, which was why in gym in school there was talcum powder for rope climbing. That made sense even if she’d never really given it thought before. Now that she thought about it, there had been a time where she remembered sweaty palms but she couldn’t exactly place the specific event, just a tickle at the back of her mind, a memory rising as a result of thinking about it. The FBI agent was scowling at her.

The beginning. Tabitha tried to focus on the task at hand. At what point did life toss something at her that would have prompted this FBI agent to grab her off the street and sit there with his scowly face? To her the beginning was being dragged into this oxygen deprived room, so institutional and mind numbing. Though there was nothing in the room to distract her eye she found it difficult to focus. She was a law-abiding citizen and found it quite shocking to be treated like a criminal. Maybe they weren’t treating her like a criminal. Maybe this was how they treated everyone they yanked off the street. Tabitha actually didn’t have anything to compare it to. She had never even been called to the principal’s office in school. Tabitha had never done anything wrong in school to require being sent to the principal’s office. If she had done something wrong maybe this would make more sense. Why did she feel so guilty when she had done nothing wrong?

Tabitha stole a glance at the FBI agent. He sat back in his chair, holding a steaming white Styrofoam cup to his face, occasionally blowing a bit to cool the coffee. Tabitha felt a bit confused because he didn’t seem to like her. Everyone liked her. She had a pleasant face and had developed curves early so she had always had the attention of the male sex. She had the confidence of knowing she was pleasant on the eyes even if she didn’t feel model or superstar material. Women also liked her. Tabitha had an easy manner and was outgoing and friendly without being intrusive. She was comfortable with herself and used to people liking her.

It was enough for her that she wasn’t ugly. Tabitha had never gotten into spending hours grooming for a certain look. A shower and towel dried hair was enough for her. Tabitha was vain enough to select clothes that suited her coloring and figure, most of the time. Though she wasn’t big on sweat pants she did like the comfort of baggy shirts rather than something more flattering. Clothes just weren’t a priority for her. Like many people, she bought clothes that looked nice in the store but ended up sitting untouched in the closet because there were always those favorite shirts or pants or dresses that she automatically reached for all the time.

The truth was, when she did spend time at the mirror applying make-up she felt like she looked the same in the end. Lipstick intimidated her. She had a healthy complexion, large green eyes, and an easy smile. Usually people liked her. Tabitha was used to being treated kindly and warmly by everyone. Even if it took spending a few minutes in her company most people warmed up to her. This man in his off the rack suit seemed to be growing more distant and cold to her with every passing minute he spent in her company and she didn’t know why.

Tabitha closed her eyes, to better concentrate when she felt the agent’s gaze burning holes in her right ear. She had terrific peripheral vision, even with closed eyes. What was the beginning he was wanting? Tabitha went backwards, discarding possibilities. The strange man’s house was the most likely starting spot. Then there was the gorgeous man at the art supply store. That made her smile. No, he was just a pleasant thought that jumped into her head too often all day. It had to be the meteor shower. Though she couldn’t possibly imagine what it had to do with the FBI agent’s question it was by far the most fascinating and unusual experience she had had recently and events seemed to be cascading from it since.

Tabitha went back to the art supply store in her mind. It was an exhilarating feeling that washed over her as she remembered. The man at the art store had taken her breath away. At the time Tabitha had been overwhelmed by the feelings washing over her but now she just felt giddy. The man at the art store made her feel flitter pated. Still, it was the meteor shower that had put her at the art store that day. The man at the art store had the most amazing eyes and a smile that made her want to smile just thinking about it. His deep voice had sent shivers through her whole body, all the way to her toes. He felt larger than life. Tabitha sighed. As so often happened when she met a man who she found extremely attractive, when he tried to talk to her she had turned into a frozen smile statue and even the smile was hard to maintain because her mouth would go dry and her lips felt like they would get stuck together if she let them touch so it was more of a grimace than a smile.

Just thinking about the encounter almost made her forget that she was sitting across the table from a scowling FBI agent in an interrogation room. Tabitha blinked when she again became aware of her surroundings. Agent Bismarck didn’t look like he wanted to hear her romantic daydreams, which had nothing to do with why she was here, as far as she knew, though she really had no clue why she was here. Still, she was quite confident that the man in the art store had no bearing on finding the beginning. There must be a reason why she was here and she’d figure it out eventually.

Yes, the meteor shower was the beginning. Nothing before it could have had any bearing. Everything after that seemed to have led up to this. It would help if he could give her some more information to go on but since he hadn’t she would take a shot at finding the right answer. She opened her eyes, the black clock staring back at her. That had to be it, the meteor shower.

Technically it started with the meteor shower, I guess, she said.

The agent frowned and slowly, purposely set down the coffee cup that he was about to sip from. What does a meteor shower have to do with the disappearance of Agent Ellis? the FBI agent asked, an edge of impatience making his voice sharp.

Tabitha turned her gaze from the black circle on the wall to the man sitting to her right. Standing, he was average height, in his mid-fifties, and he wore his charcoal gray suit as though he lived in suits. He wore his hair cropped so short as to be shaved, the result being that it was barely noticeable that he had a receding hairline. He had very blue eyes. Tabitha thought he might be wearing tinted contacts to have eyes so blue. To her it seemed an odd sign of vanity in a man who projected an image so hard, until she considered that the short haircut might also be a sign of vanity since it disguised the receding hairline.

Tabitha sighed at how easily she was distracted. She couldn’t help it. Getting to the heart of people was her thing. Some might call it a hobby. Some might call it an obsession or a waste of time. Once she felt she knew what made a person tick she just felt better. All sorts of things would fall into place once she could delve a person’s personality. Tabitha had already decided that Agent Bismarck might even be a nice person under other circumstances and that what made him so upset was that he knew and liked the mysterious Agent Ellis who had somehow managed to vanish with some unknown connection to her.

He had introduced himself as Agent Bismarck when he had grabbed her arm in an iron grip as she left the grocery store. His sharp Please come with me, had been accompanied with a quick wrist flex of some badge that she had no time to see clearly and there was no please about it. He had simply taken her arm and before she could say a word had shuffled her to a waiting car and stuffed her into the bland car driven by a bland man in another suit and driven her to this bland building with this bland room with the bland walls and bland clock.

Her single bag of groceries sat on a table against the wall in the corner. The bag had been searched and then left sitting. What had they expected to find in a bag that she had used to carry her purchases from a grocery store? It was a brown paper bag. There was ice cream in that brown paper bag sitting on the table, butter pecan. No one seemed to care about that. Tabitha expected beige ooze to come creeping out the bottom any moment. She doubted that the FBI would repay her for the somewhat expensive treat. The carrots and milk should be fine, unless they kept her all night. Tabitha tried to remember what else she had bought that might be perishable. Maybe she should ask them to put the ice cream in a freezer.

Are you saying aliens abducted Agent Ellis? the agent asked.

Tabitha had just remembered that she had also bought two containers of yogurt, so was distracted and caught off guard by his question. Tabitha stared at him, eyebrows raised. Are you serious?

You’re the one who mentioned aliens.

Tabitha took a deep breath. I said it started with a meteor shower.

Agent Bismarck leaned closer. What started?

This whole crazy whatever it is, Tabitha said, waving her arms.

Just what is it? Agent Bismarck asked.

Tabitha leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath before she got into a shouting match with the man. She hadn’t been arrested. They had simply wanted to ask her some questions, so she had been told. Tabitha was prepared to cooperate fully, yet as the meeting continued she was becoming more and more confused. She didn’t know any Agent Ellis and she didn’t know what they expected her to know. There weren’t questions for her to answer. There were expectations of her to supply information without any hints as to what was wanted. They seemed to be waiting for her to tell them something but it was as if they didn’t know the questions either. Tabitha looked at Agent Bismarck. The man was an FBI agent. He wasn’t stupid. Well, he couldn’t be stupid. She was sure that was written in an FBI requirement or something.

I don’t know what you expect. While you keep jabbering at me… she paused, seeing that his mouth tightened at the word jabbering, then decided to dive all the way in. Tabitha had never managed to hold back from saying what was on her mind and just because he didn’t like it she wasn’t going to stop now. I keep thinking what changed for me lately and I would have to say it was the meteor shower. That seemed to have started a whole chain of events. If I have some connection to your agent disappearing I can only think it had something to do with the meteor shower.

When was this meteor shower?

About a week ago, Tabitha said, perking up.

A week ago? Agent Bismarck repeated, tossing his pen in disgust.

Tabitha nodded happily at the topic. I found meteorites. The excitement lifted her mood and her voice. It still excited her to think about it. I remember at the time thinking how momentous a thing it was. I actually found meteorites. My brother said he knew about someone who was always looking for meteorites. There’s this ad posted at the university. You know, like for selling a bike or puppies? I finally got over there to take a look and I contacted the man recently and now you snatched me off the street, Tabitha said. She tilted her head as she considered the statement. Or off the sidewalk, I guess. Or off the parking lot. Is that a term? Snatched off the parking lot?

This man. Tell me about him. How does your brother know him? Agent Bismarck said in a more calm voice, reaching for his coffee cup.

Tabitha relaxed. He was very tall and very skinny. I would think about six foot four inches and barely one hundred sixty pounds. He had thinning blonde hair that was in need of a haircut. He wasn’t really balding, just thin hair. His nose has been broken at least once, maybe twice, but probably years ago. His eyebrows are quite shaggy though facial hair doesn’t seem to grow very well for him. He has rheumy eyes, so I suspect allergies.

He struck me as someone who had a hard childhood. Maybe an overprotective mother. Maybe a neglectful mother. Maybe a mother who was abusive while being overprotective. I kind of felt sorry for the little boy still visible under the surface even though he was probably a creepy child just as he’s a creepy man. Yet when it’s a child it’s easier to feel sympathy. I guess. She hesitated, feeling a blush creep up her face. Agent Bismarck was staring at her over his coffee cup.

You’re very observant of someone you only met once for a few minutes, Agent Bismarck said dryly, lowering his coffee cup.

I notice things. Okay, maybe I also have a vivid imagination. But there was something wrong with that man so it had to stem from something, she said. She took a deep breath and got back on track. I showed him two rocks I had found from the meteor shower. He looked at each one for several minutes and said he’d give me five dollars each for them. Tabitha snorted just thinking about it. I said no.

Tabitha paused, remembering the way his eyes had narrowed when she had snorted and said she wasn’t interested in selling them for such a low price. For that price it was worth keeping them herself even if they just sat on a shelf, or she could donate them to an elementary school or university. They were not as interesting as the other items she had found at the site but were still unique. She hadn’t gone expecting to retire from the proceeds. Tabitha had been curious to know their market value. He was the only market she was aware of. Though she hadn’t expected thousands of dollars, his offer of five dollars was more insulting than anything else.

The meteor man had been quite agitated when she had said no thanks and moved to leave. Tabitha had tried to leave. He had stepped in front of the door to block her way, clasping his hands together over his chest, as if trying to hold back from grabbing her.

Okay, he had said, tapping his thumbs together. The meteor man was so much taller than her that when he leaned over her it made her feel like he was looming over her, quite an uncomfortable feeling. Tabitha resisted the urge to step back because she didn’t want to give him the power to push her back just with his presence. I can go as high as one hundred. He glared when she just stared at him. He added a regretful, Each.

I suppose you were looking for something else. Something more than a physical description, Tabitha said to Agent Bismarck. He was creepy. He had that haughty attitude when I arrived. I had called and he said to stop by when convenient. When he gave me the address I was nearby so I said I could be there in a few minutes. He asked if I had the meteorites with me, stating very coolly that I needn’t waste his time by stopping by without the rocks. Tabitha snorted again just thinking about it.

As if I’d be so stupid to go without the rocks. That’s how he is though, I think. One of those who either thinks no one else has a working neuron in their head or one of those who think no one else can do something right. Me, I’m the opposite. I always think everyone has brains in their heads that should work at the same level as, well, as everyone else.

Agent Bismarck rubbed his forehead with his fingertips. Tabitha noticed and paused. She knew that sign. She had seen that same motion over and over in her lifetime. It was the subconscious gesture of someone suffering from the brain freezing properties of her tendency to chatter a bit more than average. She didn’t mean to do it. It was just what happened.

Tabitha had heard childhood tales of people considering what words escaped between their lips. She was sure it was a myth, although she had encountered the occasional person who seemed to pause between statements, as if they had given thought to their words before speaking. Not her. Tabitha would be the first to admit that sometimes the words spilled out so fast that she couldn’t always know what she was saying until it was said. Luckily she usually meant what she said even if it wasn’t always comprehensive.

Oh, yeah, she said, remembering. When I said I didn’t necessarily want to sell what I’d brought he looked capable of violence.

Agent Bismarck looked interested. He threatened you with violence?

Tabitha shook her head. No. Just a fleeting feeling of rage emanating from him, that I was thwarting him and that he didn’t like being thwarted.

You some type of genius? the FBI agent asked.

What do you mean? The question confused her. Was he being serious in asking if she was a genius? If so, how had he figured it out? Tabitha quickly tried to retrace what they’d discussed but she’d already forgotten a lot of what she’d said. His tone hadn’t felt genuine so she suspected the question wasn’t genuine.

Guess not.

Tabitha ignored his sarcastic comment. Then he said he’d give me a hundred each, she said, shivering as she remembered. He seemed to resent me not just giving them to him but he also suddenly seemed determined to have them. I took it just to get out of there. He made me uncomfortable. That’s it. On the way home I ran some errands, stopped at a few stores, the art supply store and the grocery store and then you grabbed me.

Agent Bismarck frowned. It wasn’t grabbing, he said in a tone bordering on exasperation. The agent looked surprised that Tabitha had gotten under his skin. He took a deep breath and pushed the interview back on track. You didn’t say how your brother knows him.

I didn’t say my brother knows him. You said that my brother knows him. I said my brother heard that he was looking for meteorites. My brother is a grad student at the U. He hears all sorts of things.

The door opened and another man in a suit stepped inside. It was Agent Pierre. He had been driving the bland car which Agent Bismarck had pushed her into. Agent Pierre had started out sitting with them when they first arrived and then had excused himself very early in the interview, leaving her alone with Agent Bismarck. He looked like he could be a slightly younger brother to Agent Bismarck, same short hair, same suit, and same hardness, just taller and he had a pointy nose. Agent Pierre smiled at her. At least his mouth formed the acceptable shape of a smile. Agent Pierre would go into politics, Tabitha decided. Agent Pierre had that properness about him. He also smelled too strongly of cologne. Her uncle had always smelled too strongly of cologne, to hide the smell of alcohol. Whenever Tabitha smelled a man doused in cologne she thought of what smell he was trying to cover.

Agent Pierre smiled again, as if forgetting that he had already given her a smile, then sat down opposite her with his elbows on the table. He studied her thoughtfully for an excruciatingly long minute. It’s unfortunate that you were dragged into this. The man you visited this morning has been under surveillance for quite some time, Agent Pierre said in a slow, smooth voice. He has been suspected of the disappearance of a number of people but we have no proof.

Tabitha felt goose bumps tingle along her arms and the back of her neck and shivered. Someone was walking over her grave her gramma had always said. Her gramma was full of gramma sayings. Tabitha knew that it was a primordial fear raising the hairs like some prehistoric animal. These people. Do they go to his house to answer ads for meteorites?

Agent Pierre considered the question, then shrugged. Some might have.

Tabitha felt sick to her stomach. She turned to Agent Bismarck. So you knew that. You knew that I could have been in danger and you sit there and accuse me of talking about aliens and of being involved in some mystery agent’s disappearance?

You are involved, Agent Bismarck said firmly. He had no signs of a guilty conscience. If anything he still glared at her like she had all the answers and was holding back. Agent Ellis reported making contact with you.

Not everyone disappears. Definitely not a first contact, Agent Pierre said quickly, shaking his head at Agent Bismarck. There is quite a lot of foot traffic. If we felt you were in any danger we wouldn’t have allowed you to go in. At least not without warning you. We have been keeping a very careful watch. We have no reason to believe he has harmed anyone. It has just been a strange series of coincidences that brings us back to him.

You are investigating him for making people disappear and yet here I sit being treated like a criminal, Tabitha said. How can you let people go in there if you think they are in danger?

We have no proof, Agent Pierre said. He grimaced. I don’t know why I mentioned it. Except maybe to let you know how serious this is.

No danger but you lost an FBI agent to him? Tabitha stared at Agent Pierre in disbelief. She almost snorted at the outright lie. No idea why he mentioned it? He knew exactly why he mentioned it. He wanted to see her reaction to the information. What makes you think I wasn’t taking this serious?

Agent Pierre frowned, looking confused and uncomfortable. Well, you, uh, well don’t seem to be taking this very seriously.

You suspect this man of abducting or harming an FBI agent and you’re sitting here thinking I have some hand in it yet you don’t think I’m taking it seriously?

We don’t know that Agent Ellis has come to harm at this man’s hands. He was investigating him and vanished, Agent Pierre said. Lots of people seem to vanish in connection with this man but we have no proof. He frowned when he realized he had blurted out information that he hadn’t intended to share. Agent Bismarck glared at Agent Pierre for a split second before turning his glare back to Tabitha.

And now you, Agent Bismarck snapped.

Agent Pierre sighed. You are the first difference. He paused for dramatic effect. He followed you.

What do you mean, he followed me? Tabitha asked. Her throat suddenly felt very dry. She tried to swallow but couldn’t.

As we mentioned, he has been under surveillance. Several agencies actually have an interest in him. When you left it wasn’t long before he got in his car and followed you. Or at least tried. It seems that you managed to elude him without being aware that he was following you, Agent Pierre said. Once it was determined that he had an interest in you, you were followed by one of our agents until we decided whether it would be beneficial to bring you in for questioning.

Tabitha stared at the clock. It was afternoon. She was pretty sure it was afternoon. She didn’t think she had been in the room for more than twelve hours though at times it had felt like a long time. That meant she had only been in the room for less than two hours. The clock’s hands showed half past one. The creepy guy who the FBI suspected was a serial killer had tried to follow her when she left his house, where she had been alone with him. They had lost an FBI agent that very morning. A trained FBI agent had vanished and the FBI didn’t know where he was or what happened to him.

Tabitha didn’t know what to feel. Overwhelmed was the closest word to describe the mind numbing, upper lip tingling way she felt. She turned her head to look at Agent Bismarck. He stared back at her with a face carved of stone. Maybe he had merely been asking her for information. She tried to remember how the interview had started but she came up blank. This was serious stuff and she